Means for compiling and justifying columns of written matter



Bnventor March 9, 1954 v. c. HEYBOURNE MEANS FOR COMPILING ANDAJUSTIFYING COLUMNS OF' WRITTEN MATTER Filed April 20, 1950 PatentedMar. 9, 1954 MEANS FOR COMPILING AND JUSTIFYING COLUMNS IOF WRITTENMATTER Victor C. Heybourne, Tonawanda, N. Y., assignor to Remington RandInc., New York, N. Y., a

corporation of Delaware Application April 20, 1950, Serial No. 157,056

Claims.

The present invention relates to visible index cards of the type whichhave hitherto been used for many years in connection with indexingsystems and which have fixing lugs cut out from the card to be distortedrearwardly for engagement behind latterally directed marginal flangeportions of a runway. The cards are thus slidably carried by the runwayin nested overlapping relationship and the lugs are so placed that thoseof each card cooperate with the bottom edge of its cooperating immediateunder card to determine the degree of overlap of the nested cards. Ingeneral, the overlap is such that a narrow top margin strip of eachunder card, suiilcient to accommodate one or perhaps a few lines ofwritten matter, is exposed beyond the top edge of the card whichoverlays it. The runways are usually mounted on panels or other carriersand, when the cards are wide, two or more runways may be provided inspaced parallel relationship on each panel.

Examples of such cards, the mounting means and the operating techniqueare described, for example, in the prior U. S. Patents numbered:1,048,056, 1,048,057 and 1,048,058 patented December 24, 1912; 1,628,124patented May 10, 1927, and 1,675,331 patented July 3, 1928.

In recent years cards of the class above described have been found tohave a very useful embodiment in the reproduction of printed matter bythe offset and letterpress methods from plates obtained by photographinga panel built up line by line from typewritten cards. Such an embodimentis described in the copending application of CharlesV M. Ehnes, SerialNo. 81,124 filed March 12, 1949, and that of Donald A. Gunn, Serial No.129,826 filed November 28, 1949, now Patent No. 2,635,607 of April 21,1953.

The procedure described in the aforesaid applications lends itselfexceptionally well to the compilation of parts catalogs, schedules,telephone directories, etc., and lists of statistical records, thecontents of which may require to be varied from time to time in respectof individual items to incorporate changes or corrections and toaccommodate newly inserted matter or substituted matter withoutinterfering with the general format of the various panel layouts. Insuch embodiments it is sometimes required, in the .interest of generalneatness that the column v'heights of the written matter of the variouscolumns or pages are required to be all the same.

For example, in building up columns for a telephone directory, the topline of the various adjacent" columns will be properly aligned trans- 2versely across the page but the bottom lines will not necessarily be so.The finished result is then lacking in neatness and general tidiness,and

many of the telephone companies insist that the l columns be justifiedto avoid it.

The invention is essentially concerned with a method of, and with theprovision of means for justifying columns of cards of the classdescribed and it will now be described by way of example, with referenceto the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view looking on the face of a card of a well known typeof the class described, but adapted according to the invention, for usewith an elevating strip for justifying purposes.

Fig. 2 is a plan view fragmentarily showing a runway with three cardsengaged on it in their normal nested relationship without justifying.

Fig. 3 is a plan view looking on the face of an elevating stripaccording to the invention.

Fig. 4 is a plan view looking on the face of a card like that of Fig. 1with the elevating strip engaged therewith to provide a justifying stagein accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a view corresponding to Fig. 2 but showing the effect of asingle stage of justifying.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a modified form of justifying assemblyoperating in a manner similar to that of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a nested pair of adjacent cards of a furthermodified type adapted for justifying by the provision of alternativeintermembering means. n

The card generally indicated by the reference numeral I0 in Fig. 1 is ofrectangular form having an upper edge Il, a lower edge I2, and sideedges I3 and It, respectively. Laterally spaced die-cuts l5 are providedto define the intermembering tongues I6 which can be flexed to engageunder the laterally directed flanges of a runway so that the nestedcards extend over the face of the runway, as seen in Fig. 2; the wholetechnique being in accordance with that described in the aforesaid priorpatents and applications. The cards are also usually provided with afaintly ruled pale blue line l1 which serves as a guide for typewritingso that a line of typewritten matter can be accurately placed in themarginal strip l 8 across the top of the card. The line Il is such thatwhereas it is sufciently apparent to serve as a line guide for typing,it will not normally be reproduced when a card assembly is photographedfor reproduction, for not only is it so faint that there is notsufficient contrast between the color of the line and the -color 3 ofthe card to be reproduced by any normal photographic process, but alsoit is generally intended that in a normally nested assembly of cards,the position of the typing guide line I1 coincides with, and istherefore obscured by, the upper edge of the overlying adjacent card.

It wilt; be. notedy that. the lower extremities of the deecutslidefineyspaced .straight horizontal portions I9 extending transversely acrossthe card, which portions I9 cooperate with the lower edge of acooperating adjacent .under .,card. Thus, as seen in Fig. 2, which.shows an"` interengaged series of three cards on a" short broken offportion of runway generallyindicatedibythe reference numeral 20, thetongues, of` thelfcard III, which is the lowermost and outermost of theseries, are not visible from'the .faceof .thel assembly because they areengaged behind the laterally directed flanges 2I of the runwayfand,furthermore, because the immediately adjacent -sunder=card :=I.0a\,allowerpart of which is visible @through the `.die-cuts J5, is engagedbetween the rbasic-ofthe;cardIIl and the face of the runway.

.-Thedower part of the card .Ia .is thus visible through the die-cuts,I5 with its lower edge I2a engaged against` the straight horizontalportions -.I,9,;see\.1*?ig.v 1,1of the die-cuts to dene the ex- .ftent4.off exposure :of lthe top` marginal portion 43a.. Location ofthe cardAIlla in the lateral sense is assuredl by the vfact that'its tongues (notseen in Fig. 2) are engaged under the flanges 2l with the straightvertical portions 22 (see Fig. 1) of thediecuts accurately/abutting theoutside edges v.125! ofszthe :runway yiianges. The third card Illb,the.-lower edgesIZb of which is just lvisible in Fig.2through:the.diecuts I5, and each subse- .quent..card of the series, issimilarly located in relation to its .immediately cooperating over card.It will `thus y'be seen from Fig.` 2 that the upper edges I I, :I Iafand4I Ib ofthe respective cards I0, :Illa and IDb: are equally spaced andthat the top :marginalqstrips -I8, Hmzy and |81)v are therefore equal. 1The; cards moreover, being slidably nested on thefrunways; can beseparated longitudinally lof; the-runways tofpermit the insertion ofadditionalmards, or for substitution, and, when the .ffinalffpanelformathas been achieved, the assemblyds masked,as described for example in theaforesaid application of Ehnes, for photographing.

@-.As so farfdescribed, the ,procedure is well known 4 andwthe`:onlyudiiference which the cards, ac-

cording to the present invention, have over the .hitherto knowncards isin the provision of means .for-justifying the height of columns on arunway or thematter of consecutive panels so that the topfandrbottomlines of adjacent vcolumns or,` pages are accurately. aligned in thefinished z'reproduction. `In that respect it` will beappreciatedv thatany discrepancy will manifest itself` yin` the bottom line of a columnor page being .out on alignment with respect to the bottom lineAOfitsadjacent column or page to the extent of theheight of the line` oftype vor print plus a eertainamount ofthe normal line` spacing or, vinother words, .tof an amount corresponding to the depth of exposure ofthe completefcard top margin I8. Thereare some. cases, for example, inatelephone directory where the last item at the bottom ofthe `pagehappens to be a multiple line @insertion` which ought not to be` brokenup and continued-on. the, next column or page in which the discrepancymay amount to a whole number multipleirof top margin width :518. 5 For`.conven- 4 that two adjacent columns have been built up on theirrespective runways and it is found that if the top lines are properlyaligned the respective bottom lines will be out of alignment to theextent of one full top margin I8. Any attempt to absorb that discrepancyby increasing the exposure offu any :single-*margin I 8 `Twillnoticeably l spoil the wholefformatloflthe fpage 4or column,

r f duction.

It Visrwlththelmeans for justifying the card columnsfthatthe inventionis essentially concerned,.and..such means will now be described.

Thus in Figs. 1 and 2 it will be noted that the -card LII); is providedwith a horizontally extending slot 25 in the center of the card betweenthe die-cutsIE. The slot 25 isadapted` andarranged forlthe-'receptionqof a tongue `25 extending from the top edgeoftheelevatinglstrip121 (see Fig; 3). 'Theelevating stripv 2l is of suchdepth that whenfthe notch 26. is fully engaged vin the lslot 25 `of thecard asseen.inFigl44,v;'the

vating. strip.- is usedtheexposed` upper; marginal portion ofthe cardwithlwhich.it.is.associated `is increased. .l Thusfin" Fig. f-vwherevfanelevatingstrip isshown associated with the :card .Illb, the extent ofexposure of the. top. marginal` strip I8b isslightly, greatenzthan thatof the` strips .I8 and Ia. The fact that the typing guideline ITb isexposed beyond theupper edge I2a`ofthe card vIlla is immaterial because;as hereinbefore stated-the typeguidelineris of:such amature that itVwill not be discernible in the finishedfreproduction.

It should beinoted. that the elevating strip21 must be ,applied overthefacerv of .thecard with which dit is directly. associatedV inw orderto..leaye the xinglugs.. I6 free to bedistorted rearwardly forengagement withthe runway flanges .-23.

It is a preferred feature .of the .inventionv that the'elevating strips'21 shoulclbe somewhat wider than/the cards. in order.that,.as. seen inFigsLA and 5, an edge-portion 29.shal1 be visible .beyond the edge ofthecard forsignalling theposticn ofthe elevatingstrips. The Aedge portion.2Q-fis also preferably ruled. with aseries-of pa1el.b1ue lines sothatwhereasrit isapparent to'thenaked eye, it,'like thetyping guideVvlinel'l; will .not-.be discernible. in .theiinislied reproduction,

.It should beenoted` that the verticaloisetprcvided at each justifyingstagemust alwaysbeof the -order of .a small. fraction .of each`sirg1e1'line spacing. margin I tk which. has to be absorb'edinjustifying.. aY column. ",Thus, with. a. normal. exposure ofAeach-.top.marginto the. extent,f,of,.,-for

. example 1/5 a. singlelineshortagein a column .can be concealedbyincreasingthe-linespacing ,'15 exposure-:officewmzldsmncer sdmilamcreum-:arrangeurl stances, call for sixjustifying stages increasing top marginexposure at six points spaced substantially equidistantly throughout thelength of the column.

The modified construction shown with reference to Fig. 6, operates inthe same way as that already described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5,and the sole difference which the Fig. 6 construction presents over thatalready described, is that in the Fig. 6 construction the elevator strip21 has a pair of tongues 26', each for engagement with a cooperatingslot formed in the card I. That feature is useful in order to obtainmore satisfactory alignment in the wider range of cards.

The further modified construction shown with reference to Fig. 7,provides for increasing exposure of a card top margin withoutnecessitating employment of a separate elevating strip. To that end, themodified card I0 of Fig. 7 has, in addition to the die-cuts I" withtheir straight horizontal and vertical portions I9" and 22",respectively, knife cuts 30 each spaced between its adjacent die-cut andcorresponding lateral margin substantially as shown. The knife cuts eachdefine a tongue portion 3| which can be bent out of the plane of thecard about a line joining the lower extremities of the lateral portionsof the knife cuts to provide an alternative location for the lower edgeof a cooperating under card different from that provided by the straighthorizontal portions I9. Thus, in normal use, the straight horizontalportions I9" are engaged by the lower edge of a cooperating under cardto define a standard exposure of card top margin, but when, as seen inFig. 7, a justifying stage is required, the top marginal exposure of theimmediately cooperating under card I0 is increased by engaging thebottom edge of the under card Ill"l with the hinge line of the tongues3|, which, being at a different height relative to that of the straighthorizontal portions I9, provides the appropriate variation of topmarginal exposure.

It is to be understood that where the expression a small fraction hasbeen yused in relation to the difference in top margin exposure providedat each justifying stage, the fraction has unity as its numerator, andits denominator represents the number of times the justifying stages arerequired to be repeated, heightwise of a column, effectively to concealeach single line spacing to be absorbed in justifying the completecolumn. Thus, in the instances hereinbefore specied 1&5" represents 1/5"of the normal exposure for each top margin I8 and hence five justifyingstages are required. Similarly l/gg" is 1/6 of a normal 1/6 top marginexposure and requires six justifying stages effectively to conceal eachsingle line difference. In general a dierence more than 1A of the normaltop margin line spacing exposure at each justifying stage is liable tobe too conspicuous, and though, theoretically, the justifying stagescould occur .between each line, there is in practice a limit beyondwhich repetition of the justifying stages is useful and commerciallypractical. Thus not only does excessive repetition become tedious butalso, it is apt to result in the fractional differences at eachjustifying stage becoming so impr-acticably small that the cards wouldhave to be manufactured and finished to a degree of accuracy which wouldbe diflicult to achieve for ordinary commercial use. The term smallfraction may ltherefore be dened as between the limits Vs to 115.

In the claims:

1. In an index or ille, a card retaining strip adapted to present a pairof outwardly directed flan-ges, a plurality of index cards slidablymounted thereon, each card being provided with a pair of inwardlydirected tongues struck out of said card and extending inwardly from amarginal portion thereof, said tongues having inwardly directed tabportions for engagement beneath said flanges, each card having portionsof said margin at the base of said tongues in a fixed relation to ltheadjacent edge of said card, said cards engaging in oiiset interengagedrelation on said strip, said portions at the base of said tongues andsaid adjacent card edges offsetting adjacent cards in internestedrelation to expose the opposite margin of each card in visible indexrelation, the combination of means connected to one of said cardsadjacent said tongues in offset relation to said portions at the base ofsaid tongues, said means engaging the marginal portion of an adjacentcard and spacing said one card and adjacent card a different amount inoverlapped relation from that provided by said portions at the base ofsaid tongues, said means being concealed by said cards in assembledrelation and providing means for justifying the spacing of said cards onsaid strip.

2. Card column justifying means as set forth in cl-aim 1 characterizedby the fact that, for engaging an elevating strip with a card, the cardsare transversely slotted for the reception of complementary tongue meansextending from the upper edge of the elevating strips.

3. For column justifying of cards of the class described each having anupper edge, a lower edge, and lateral edges joining said upper and loweredges and including die-cuts having transverse portions accuratelypositioned relative to said lower edge for cooperation with the loweredge of an immediately adjacent under card to determine the normalextent to which the upper edge of an under card projects beyond theupper edge of an immediately overlying card when the cards are installedin their nested relationship; a justifying insert cooperativelyen-gageable with an under card to mask the lower part of said undercardand project beyond the lower edge and also beyond one lateral edge,whereby the lower edge of said justifying insert cooperates with saiddie-cut to achieve a greater than normal extent of exposure of the topedge of an under card beyond its immediate overlying neighbor, whereasthe lateral projection of said justifying insert beyond the lateral edgeindicates the position of said inserts lengthwise of a column.

4. A card of the class described having a top edge and a bottom edgeparallel therewith, and primary cuts defining intermembering tonguesbendable out of the plane of the card for intermembering cooperationwith an adjacent under card, the lower extremities of said primary cutsbeing equidistant from said bottom edge to dei-lne, when said tonguesare bent out of the plane of the card for intermembering -with anadjacent under card, adjacent under card locating means for locating thebottom edge of a cooperating adjacent under card in spaced parallelrelationship with respect to said bottom edge of said card and therebyto determine a normal degree of exposure of the top of said under cardbeyond said top edge of said card; said card also having supplementarycuts defining upwardly extending supplementary tongues, the lowerextremities of which supplementary cuts serve. when said sup-`piementary tongues are bent out of themlne of the bard,toxprovidendjacent under card-alternative locating` means spaced fromgaid ybcittom edge or said cardwa distancediff ;erentfr9m the spacingofq-the lower extremitiesmf, Said Pfmarfy;

cuts from saddlowen-.edgeiof-:said card tothe.

top marginal portion. ofeach under 4,card bemindy thefupper edge of; itscooperating immediately underlying card corresponding to a predetennineddesirednormal linespacing, the method of adapting said individual cardsfonwlumn justifying which consists in providing ysaid cards withaJter-v`native intermembering meansso offset` from. said rstmentionedintermeibering meansthat when.

any -peir 0f -adJacent nested .cardsis intermem: beredr by ymeans ofsaid alternative. .inter-n1exnb,erf-` ing means a. justifying stage isprovidedatwhich the normal top merg-in exposure isyeried to the extentof .a email traction (as .hereinbefqre defined) Oisaid llllllliillllfspcmg' -eXDOBun whereby column justifyingV can `be achievedy byrepeating the justifying sten as menytimee in a, column smay be requiredtu reise saidfraction tovunityforeach unit linespace tube absorbedjustifying.

VICTORC. w

References Cited in the le of this patent- UNITED STATES PATENTS

